Jeyl said:3. new star fields
Didn't the Director's Cut already do this, or are you going with something different?
I want to see how a more STAR WARS star field looks (where the stars are smaller and more numerous); I may consider adding in elements like the Milky Way belt (not a full-on galaxy, but something more subtle). Regardless, I will be posting examples.
2. computer screens will get make-over; may consider altering consoles in some way to have more viewscreens and less switches.
I do believe the Nostromo was meant to be a low-tech ship. Adding screens would seem out of place especially considering the mother chat room only has one interactive screen inside it.
If anything is going to be changed, it will be the view screens. I don't know if I could ADD anything, like change the appearance of the actual consoles, but the idea is to give them a slight update, so whatever new graphics are added will reflect what the older moniters showed in the movie. I'm using low-tech in my home right now and MY moniter has better graphics! <:)
Trust me; while STAR WARS was a big influence on me (being that I was 7 when I saw it in '77), ALIEN is the one movie that has influenced me the most being that I was kept from seeing it or never got around to seeing it until 7 years after '79. Until then, all I had was the photo novel and the illustrated story, and that was after some MISSION:IMPOSSIBLE style haranging with the friends.
3. bouncing helmet in background will be stabilized/static.
Aww. Why? If your going to do that, you might as well remove the banging chair, flapping paper and the bird drinking deco. I myself think that movement in what looks like an abandoned ship makes it more eerie than a ship that's perfectly still.
Yup. A lot of that is going bye-bye. I understand the whole "atmosphere" thing and all, but short of the air system coming on, nothing is going to be moving in a freezing vacuum.
4. smoke will be deleted when Nostromo detaches from docking arm
Aww, but Scott said he liked that effect, even admitting it makes no sense.
While I understand that to a degree you CAN have smoke in space, that scene in particular is an example of dated FX. If I can work it in, I also plan on adding ice particles coming off ala SILENT RUNNING.
3. may slow down Kane's POV of the face-hugger so we can better see what is happening.
Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of the shot? Sure, it's hard to spot what's going on, but there is merit to it. "Oh, god. What just happened?" can be a lot more effective. The more you see the Alien doing it's thing, the more comfortable one will be with it.
I understand: there is the conflict between "what the hell was that?! (shock and horror)" to "what the hell was that?! (it's so damn quick you have to wonder why its even there)" I'll play with it; it's the kind of thing that you don't know how it is going to play until you play it. I'm not going to have this in the final cut if it doesn't work for me. The idea was to slow it down maybe a second or two (or more like a split-second or two); not so much to linger, but just to get a split second MORE of a view so you better get the idea of what Kane is seeing. As it stands, it is LITERALLY a split second and short of pausing the image and still-stepping, you never even see it.
4. early plotpoint had Ripley being Dallas' lover; if possible, I will be "adding" Ripley laying beside Dallas when Ash calls him in the shuttle (this will set up the cocoon scene later if used)
NO! Don't do that! Ripley is meant to be a very independent character who is supposed to be in conflict with Dallas, not be his bed mate. And it's totally out of place considering that these two argue with each other over orders and command responsibilities. Leave that 'lover' stuff in Alien3 where it belongs (And if you ever get a chance to do ALIEN3, delete the lover stuff).
Again, that's me. If you notice, when she's arguing with Dallas, it is obvious that if anyone is friends on this ship its them. Now whether they're LOVERS can be argued, but she sure is chummy enough that when she questions Dallas he doesn't give her a lot of shit. Like I stated before, IF I can manage to work in the cocoon scene per my script above, the whole idea is to add something to when she has to kill Dallas.
If anything, I appreciate it more when characters actually care about one another (or at least SOME of them do) than when they're just independent entities. Now they don't have to be lovers or family members, but it can help. I'm just sick of the CABIN FEVER fodder that acts like friends until the S hits the F and they all ditch each other.
10. will do some slight editing to the "Dallas in the airshaft" sequence: the camera will close in on him as he descends the ladder, so when he turns the light towards us it will cut to the Alien jump scare (that way we won't see the Alien stuck in the wall).
Well, it's your edit, but I think cutting to the ALIEN the moment Dallas shines his light towards the camera is a bit to quick. Plus, we'd be cutting parts of Lambert's line "No, not that way! Wait! The other way Dallas!"
Those are my thoughts anyway.
Lambert's lines will remain, but I will still be editing the scene visually. I never liked how the Alien is just sitting in an alcove (due to the limitations of the suit) when the tracker shows it moving towards Dallas.
Regardless, I do appreciate the input. Hopefully in a couple of weeks, I hope to make some example images so you can get an idea of what I'm planning on.